Forbidden
by jlc919
Summary: Athena is a Healer. She loves Loki. He loves her. But their love is forbidden. CHAPTER 9 IS NOW UP!
1. Chapter 1

**Thank You so much for coming the read my new story. I'm not sure how I will update this one as well as The Younger Sister, but I will figure something out**.

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Athena hobbled around the room, restocking supplies. She limped from one side of the room to another, replacing supplies with others.

It was a bit hard to get around with the permanent limp, but she had gotten used to it by now.

Her mentor, Freya, walked into the room. Freya was an older, heavyset woman. She was also the Senior Healer of Asgard, and Athena was her apprentice.

"We have enough supplies to last us through the winter." Athena told her mentor.

Freya nodded. "Good. Odin said there was a new prisoner that needed tending to."

"I'll do it!" Athena offered immediately. Freya never let her to tend to people on her own. But this was a prisoner.

"Alright. Come back quickly." Freya dismissed her with a wave of her hand.

Athena stood in shock, before grabbing her supplies and set them all on a tray and headed out.

She couldn't believe that Freya actually let her go. To a prisoner! She didn't argue, but it didn't seem right.

She ignored it and limped over to the Prison Chambers.

The guards bowed slightly downwards her and stepped aside, letting her through.

She walked down the hall, with cells on both sides of her.

As she walked past, fists pounded on the glass. She glanced over once, and saw a man with a scar covering his face. His face was twisted into a grimace, a permanent face of hate.

She quickly turned her head away and hobbled faster, hoping to get to wherever she needed to go.

A guard met her halfway. "Greetings Athena. Are you here for the new prisoner?"

"Yes. Could you lead the way? I'm not quite sure where I am going." Athena said quietly.

He chuckled and nodded. "Of course." He turned and led her down the end of the hallway. There was a separate room with another cell inside, separated by a door with two guards, making sure no one entered.

She stopped and the guards glanced at each other, before stepping aside and letting Athena into the cell.

No one was in the room, so she placed the tray on a table, and was rearranging the supplies, getting ready for her patient.

"Athena?" A soft voice asked.

Athena whipped around, knocking the tray onto the ground.

A surprised Loki stood in the doorway to the bathroom.

"What are you doing here?" His tone was not accusing, it was filled with curiosity.

Athena was silent, staring at him in shock.

"Lo-Loki?" She asked hesitantly.

A small smile lifted his lips upwards. "Hey Athena."

Athena smiled and ran towards him and almost jumped into his arms. He grunted, but stayed on his feet.

She wrapped his arms around him and hugged him tight. He let out a small laugh, before grunting and stumbling backwards.

She gasped and stepped back, seeing his face twist with pain. Athena grabbed his arm and led him towards the bed.

"Lay down. Let me clean you up." She said in a commanding sort of voice.

He chuckled softly, but lay down on the bed.

Athena picked up her tools from the floor, and set them on the table again by the bed.

She grabbed the bowl and went to the bathroom and filled it with warm water.

She brought it back and sat down on the side of the bed and started to wipe his face with a soft towel.

He watched her carefully, before asking. "What made you become a Healer? If I remember right, you wanted to be the best warrior." He said with a chuckle.

Athena paused, her movements stilled, before replying.

"After the accident, Odin couldn't have a crippled warrior. That would ruin his perfect reputation." She spit out, her anger and pain seeping through her words.

"I couldn't be a warrior anymore." She said softly, a tear seeping out, and she turned away before he could see.

But he did anyway.

When she looked back at him, his face was pained, but not from his injuries. "I'm sorry…"

"Now stop! That was not your fault! Please stop saying it's your fault." She whispered softly.

"It is my fault. And you know it." He looked away.

The memories came flooding back.

**FLASHBACK**

"Come on Athena! You're falling behind! Are you really going to let me win?" A laugh sounded in front of her.

Athena kicked her horse faster, urging it into a faster gallop. Her horse ran faster, and Loki's horse was slowly coming closer to her. She was catching up.

She soon was at his side, and glanced over at him. "Who's falling behind now?" She tossed her head up and laughed as her horse ran faster.

She beat him to their finish line and pulled her horse up, as he skidded to a halt beside her.

"Nice luck. But I'll beat you next time." He said with a competitive smirk.

Athena laughed. "Yea right. Keep dreaming prince."

Suddenly something sharp hit her leg. She screamed and fell off her horse, landing hard onto the ground.

Loki was down beside her in an instant. "Athena! Are you alright?"

Yells of triumph sounded in the distance, and Loki looked up and his eyes looked murderous.

He slipped his arms under her and lifted her into his arms.

Athena risked a glance down at her leg and saw a long arrow sticking out of her thigh. It had gone deep.

She whimpered softly. "Don't worry Athena. You're going to be fine." Loki soothed, though his voice was laced with panic.

More arrows whizzed past her, but Loki easily dodged them.

He turned and his hand shot out, a blast of energy shot out, hitting the enemies that were hiding in the trees.

They slumped over, motionless.

He carried her out of the open, into the shelter of the trees and gently set her down.

He rolled up her pants, exposing the wound.

He growled softly. "These arrows are laced with poison. If I leave it in, you won't make it home." His eyes met hers, and they were covered with fear and desperation.

"I have to take it out." He said softly, as if asking for her permission.

Athena nodded quickly. "Take it out!" Tears streamed down her face from the intense pain.

Loki nodded and grabbed her hand in one of his. "Squeeze my hand. Concentrate on my hand. You can squeeze it as hard as you want. Don't concentrate on the pain. Concentrate on me." His emerald eyes met hers.

Athena nodded and grasped it tightly as his other hand grabbed the arrow. She screamed softly.

"I know it hurts, but it will be over in a second. Squeeze my hand." He urged as he held the arrow tighter.

"On the count of three. One. Two." His eyes met hers. "Three." He yanked the arrow out, and Athena screamed loudly, clenching his hand in hers.

He threw it away and placed his hand on the now gushing wound. "There. It's out."

The pain was excruciating. "I know it hurts, but you will be okay now. I promise."

He took off his jacket and wrapped it tightly around her leg, and picked her up again.

Athena was dizzy and black started to edge around her vision. He head rolled back.

"Stay with me Athena. Stay with me."

He placed her on his horse and got on behind her, and pulled her into his arms, cradling her gently.

He spoke softly to her, as they galloped back towards the city and when she saw the palace, she passed out, the last thing she remembered was the sound of the horse's hooves as Loki urged it to go faster.

She had been fine, but pulling the arrow out had damaged her leg. It was going to have a permanent limp.

END OF FLASHBACK

Athena shook her head, clearing the memories. "Forget about it Loki. You saved my life. I would have died."

He looked at her, his eyes sad. "But look what I did to you. This is not the life you wanted."

"But I'm alive Loki! That's what I wanted!"

Loki looked into her eyes, not entirely convinced, but he nodded and laid back on the bed.

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**Reviews are much appreciated! THANKS!**


	2. Chapter 2

Athena dipped the cloth into the water and started to gently dab at his cuts on his face.

"Why did you leave?" Athena asked softly, in a quiet whisper.

Loki opened his eyes and looked at her sadly.

"I thought you were dead. Why did you let us all believe you were dead?" Tears threatened her vision and she looked away.

"I couldn't stay. Not after what I had done," He whispered softly.

"But I needed you Loki!"

**FLASHBACK**

Athena lay in the stiff bed of the Healing Chambers. Freya had left the room for a moment.

She had been stuck in this room for weeks and it was driving her crazy. The only way she stayed sane was when Loki came to visit her every day.

Ever since he found out about her leg, he came to visit her to keep her company, though she still saw the guilt in his eyes. She tried to convince him that it was not his fault, but he still blamed himself.

When Thor had been banished and Loki became king, Athena didn't know. She was still in that stupid bed, wondering where Loki was. He had usually came to see her by now.

Finally, later that day, Thor came to see her, which was weird. He never came to see her.

Thor sat down heavily beside her bed, his eyes saddened.

Athena sat up slowly. "What's wrong Thor?"

"It's about Loki."

Athena gasped softly, "What happened? Is he alright? Why isn't he here?" Athena whipped her head around, looking for Loki.

"He's dead."

Athena froze. She slowly turned her head to look at Thor. "Wh-what?"

"He fell off the Rainbow Bridge. He wanted to kill me, Athena. He wanted to destroy the Frost Giants! There was nothing I could do to stop him, but destroy the Bifrost. In the process, he fell." Thor looked down.

Athena shook her head. "No. This is some sick joke. Loki would never do that! He saved me! He's not evil!" Tears were gathering in her eyes, threatening to fall.

Thor was dead serious. He said nothing. Athena could see it in his eyes that he was not kidding.

The tears finally burst past their barrier, and she let them stream down her face.

She buried her face into her pillow and sobbed for days afterward. She still expected him to come back the next day. It hit her harder, when she discovered that he was really gone.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

The memories overwhelmed her and she burst into tears. "I needed you more than you could ever possibly know! It killed me knowing that you were dead! How could you let me believe that? Why didn't you come home? I loved you Loki! I never stopped…." The words came tumbling out quickly, and she couldn't stop them.

She turned and wiped the tears away, embarrassed that she had revealed so much.

A gentle, warm hand caught her chin and gently pulled her face around to face him.

Athena closed her eyes, not ready to see how he looked at her. With amusement at how stupid she was.

How could she believe that a prince actually loved her? Out of all people. Her.

"Open your eyes." Loki's smooth voice said quietly.

Athena forced her eyes open, to look at his.

She was not expecting to see what she saw in his eyes.

His green eyes were shining with unshed tears and a smile on his face. His eyes showed an emotion that she had never see there before. Love.

His other hand came to her face and he held her face in his hands.

"I loved you since the moment I met you." He whispered quietly.

Athena stared at him in shock, as he pulled her face closer to his.

Athena's eyes drifted down to his lips, before drifting close.

His lips met hers in a gentle caress.

Her body jerked with surprise, and she him smile against her lips.

He his hand drifted into her hair, and pulled her closer than they already were.

Athena felt her confidence growing, and she deepened the kiss.

He opened his mouth against hers and she was drowning in raw emotions.

Her toes were curling, and somehow, she ended up sitting on his lap, cupping his face between her hands.

He let out a throaty groan and it was her turn to smile against him lips.

Soon, they had to break apart from lack of air. They rested their foreheads against each other's.

Athena finally opened her eyes and she saw his already looking at her. He smiled.

Athena looked down, and noticed how she was on his lap, and blushed deeply.

"ummmm Sorry." She stammered, trying to untangle herself from him, but he chuckled and pulled her body against his, not letting her move.

"Wh-what are you doing?" She asked with a short laugh.

He pressed a soft kiss to her lips before replying. "I don't want you to go." His eyes gleamed with passion.

Athena looked at him for a moment before nodding and standing up and walking to the door.

She opened it slightly and a guard met her in the door.

She hoped her face was not flushed. "Could you tell Freya that I must stay here for the night with the prisoner to make sure that his wounds do not get worse?"

The guard glanced into the cell before looking back her and nodded curtly.

"Thank you!" Athena bowed respectfully, before closing the door.

She leaned her back against the door and looked at Loki, with a mischievous look.

"We have the night to ourselves."

He smiled and rose off the bed and walked slowly towards her like he was stalking his prey.

Finally, he stopped right in front of her, and Athena wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his lips down to hers.

He backed them up before reaching the bed, before laying down on his back, bringing her down on top of him.

He rolled her over while still kissing her.

She pulled away a bit later, out of breath.

He wrapped his arm around her and pulled the covered up around them.

"Sleep now. I'll still be here when you wake." He whispered lovingly.

Athena chuckled. "You better be." She said jokingly, but at the same time, meaning it.

He seemed to know this, so he smiled and kissed her quickly, before burying his face into her neck.

Athena smiled and closed her eyes, eventually falling asleep to the steady heart beat next to her.

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THANKS FOR REVIEWING! :)


	3. Chapter 3

Athena opened her eyes.

It took her a minute to remember where she was. In Loki's cell.

She smiled when she felt an arm around her waist, and she turned her head to look at a sleeping Loki.

His hair was ruffled, and he looked so peaceful.

Athena smiled. She shifted over to her other side, so she was staring at Loki.

He felt the bed shift, and one of his green eyes opened.

Athena chuckled. He looked so tired. He was not a morning person.

His other eye opened and he smiled. "Morning."

Athena laughed softly and leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

"Morning." She replied with a smile.

He lifted his head and rested it on his hand, and Athena did the same.

He was watching her.

Athena blushed and looked down. "What are you staring at?"

His other hand came up to her chin, and lifted it back up, until her eyes met his.

"I'm looking at how beautiful you are." He replied, his voice husky.

Athena blushed deeply and buried her face into the pillow.

She heard him chuckle and he nuzzled his face into her neck.

She smiled.

"I love you Athena."

Athena looked up in surprise. His gaze was serious.

Athena felt her body freeze in shock.

He loved her.

Then, she smiled and kissed him.

He brought his hand up to her face and kissed her passionately.

When they broke apart, Athena whispered, "I love you too."

Loki looked at her happily and smiled.

"This was the second time I told you."

Athena paused. "Second?"

Loki nodded. "You didn't hear the first. I said it to you, but you were unconscious."

Athena wondered when this happened.

"It was right after the accident. When I was waiting for you to wake up, I talked to you. I hoped you could hear me. I thought you were going to die. So I told you that I loved you. And I promised myself that if you woke, I would tell you." He looked down. "It took longer that I planned."

Athena was speechless. He had confessed his love for her before.

Then she smiled and dipped her head to meet his gaze. "You told me now. That's all that matters." She smiled.

Loki smiled and kissed her forehead.

Suddenly, a thought hit her.

Freya!

Athena gasped and threw the covers off.

"Freya will be wondering where I am! I must go back!"

Loki looked upset.

Athena stopped and gave him a small smile, before going to him and kissing him deeply.

"Don't worry. I'll be back." She promised.

He smiled and whispered in a husky voice. "You better." It sent a shiver up her spine.

Athena laughed and grabbed the tray with stuff she barely even used, and left.

When she made it back to the Healing Ward, Freya was waiting for her. Her arms were crossed and she had a look of disappointment.

"How could you do this Athena?" She asked softly, her eyes clearly showing her disappointment.

Athena stopped. "What do you mean?"

Freya huffed. "Don't play games with me Athena. You know exactly what I mean. Loki was not it that bad of shape that you had to stay overnight."

Athena put the tray down and faced her mentor. "Then why didn't you stop me?"

Freya had a sad look. "Because I thought you would be smart enough to know what you were doing. Apparently I was wrong."

Athena looked down, then back up at her mentor, with a surprised look. "You know who I was going to see?"

Freya looked at her like she was foolish. "Of course I knew! Why else would I have sent you alone?"

Athena stopped. It had seemed weird that Freya let you go alone.

Then the doors opened and Odin stepped into the room.

Freya and Athena both stopped and bowed respectively to Odin.

Odin nodded curtly and looked at Freya.

"Did she do it?" he asked, with a glance at Athena.

Freya sighed and nodded. "She came back this morning."

It hit Athena that Freya had told her what she was doing.

"I thought she was smart enough to come back, but she didn't." Freya said with a glance towards her.

"You told him?!" Athena cried.

"Of course. It is my duty to report these kind of things to him." She said calmly.

Odin looked at her calmly. "Did you spend the night with Loki?"

Athena opened her mouth to deny it, but she knew it was dishonorable to lie of the Allfather.

She bowed her head in her answer.

Odin nodded slowly. "You are forbidden from ever seeing Loki again."

Athena stared at him in shock.

"I understand that one day you will be the Senior Healer and you will probably have to deal with him. But by that time, you will have learned to control your emotions and that will not be a problem. If Loki ever needs to be tended to, Freya will do it." He looked at Freya and she nodded.

"You can't do that!" Athena cried.

Odin looked at her, shocked.

"Athena!" Freya shouted at her. "Apologize immediately. You will never speak to your King that way."

Athena bowed her head and closed her eyes, the tears forming behind her eye lids.

"I know that you love him, Athena. But you are a Healer. Healers, cannot love and have a family. They must focus on the welfare of Asgard. Love blinds you. You cannot be blind. All of Asgard is your family." Odin said quietly, in a way that almost sounded like he was upset by saying this.

"I only became a healer because I'm crippled! I wanted to become a warrior, but you told me it could never happen!" Athena cried angrily at Odin.

He nodded slowly. "I said that for you. If I let you become a warrior, you would have been killed in the first battle."

Athena shook her head. "You don't know that. You didn't want a cripple warrior for the rest of the Nine Realms to mock you for. You were ashamed of me, so you didn't give me a choice!" She shouted at him.

"Athena, Silence!" Freya scolded. "He has his reasons, and you are not one to question them!"

Odin stared at her in shock at her words.

Athena expected him to explode.

But he just looked at her calmly and said. "Did you really expect him to love you?"

Athena froze. Even Freya stopped to look at Odin.

"He is the God of Mischief. Master of Lies. Did you really think he loved _you_?"

Athena felt her eyes sting from the tears.

"You were so naïve that you let him win you over. He didn't love you. He never has." He said, his eyes never blinking.

Athena tried so hard not to break, but his words shattered her defenses. She let out a sob and ran out of the room, her face buried in her hands.

Freya watched her leave sadly, before turning to Odin. He too was watching her leave.

When she leaved the room, he sighed sadly. "I had no choice. If I didn't say something, she would never let him go. It was the only way to keep her safe."

Freya nodded slowly. "She really loved him though."

Odin nodded slowly. "He really loved her too."

Athena ran to her room and began crying.

Was Odin right? Did he really not love her?

She lay in her room sobbing for days. No one disturbed her.

She was completely alone.

She had determined that Odin was right. Loki didn't love her. But she loved him. She would never stop loving him.

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**Reviews are appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry I have taken a while. Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoy! This is an important chapter. :)**

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Athena felt sick.

It had been about a month after Odin said she could no longer see Loki again.

She had just woken up, but she didn't feel right.

She had a weird craving for unusual food. She never had that.

She had taken a test earlier and she was now waiting for the results.

She hoped they were not what she thought they were.

She knew the signs of pregnancy. Freya had taught her that when she had just become her apprentice.

The machine let out a ding and she hobbled back over to it.

The screen showed an image and Athena made it 3D to see it better.

There was an image of her, but it zoomed up to her stomach.

There she saw a yellow orb. An orb that had a heartbeat.

Athena gasped and shut it off quickly.

It was true….. She was pregnant. With Loki's child.

**8 ½ Months Later**

Athena was still reeling over the death of Freya.

It had happened so fast. She was not ready to be the sole Healer.

It happened about seven days ago.

Athena was hobbling around. She had an enchanting spell put on her to hide the large baby bump. To everyone around her, she looked normal. It was hard to act normal when her back was killing her from standing straight.

Freya was going out to get herbs. But she was going farther away from the city to get them. It was dangerous the farther away a person get from the city.

Athena insisted that she go with her but Freya refused. She was too honorable to accept.

Maybe she had known.

She had left in the morning, and Athena started to get worried when the sun was in the center of the sky and she still was not back.

She was about to go out and look for her when a pair of guards stopped her.

"Please come with us." They said quietly.

She followed them to a room with only a table.

But the table held a body.

Freya.

Athena let out a gasp and raced towards the table towards her mentor.

"NO!"

Athena grabbed Freya's cold hand.

"No please!" Athena cried out, tears slipping down her face.

There was a large gash on Freya's head.

Athena ripped a piece of cloth off of her sleeve and pressed it to her head.

"Come on Freya. Please don't do this. You can't leave me. Don't leave me!" She wiped away the blood from her wound and glanced around frantically for any herbs or anything to use.

The guards opened their mouths to say something but Athena whipped her head around and pointed at them. "Don't you dare interrupt me! I'm busy! She is not going to die on my watch!"

Athena turned back to Freya and placed her hands on her chest and pushed hard.

"Come on Freya!"

She heard the door open again behind her, but she ignored it and continued pushing on her chest.

"I need to get her heart beating! Won't anyone help me?" She shouted, tears blinding her vision.

"Athena." A soft voice spoke.

She ignored it and continued to push down. "Leave me alone!"

"Athena stop." The voice said again. It was defiantly male.

She didn't stop.

Strong arms wrapped around her waist and dragged her away from Freya.

"No! Stop! I have to help her!" Athena sobbed as she struggled against the arms.

"Athena!" The voice said loudly, loud enough to make her cease her struggles. "She's already gone."

Athena stared at her mentor's body and then went limp in her captor's arms. She started sobbing uncontrollably.

Her captor gently lowered her to the ground, where she kneeled in his arms, sobbing in her hands.

He held her tightly, and sat with her, whispering soothing things into her ear.

She was facing away from him, so she didn't know who it was.

Yet, the voice sounded familiar.

But she was in so much pain, she didn't care who it was.

She jumped up towards her body again, and placed her hands on her chest and started pushing again.

"I can still save you Freya! You taught me how!" She cried through her sobs.

The arms came around her again, but she would not let go.

The voice shouted something that she didn't hear, and then she felt a sharp prick on her neck.

A needle. She felt something shoot into her veins. She knew what it was immediately.

Tranquilizer.

"No!" She struggled against the drowsiness that was already beginning to slow her movements.

The arms pulled her back gently, but she was already feeling too heavy to struggle.

She had to let go of the body.

"No! Please! Don't do this!" She cried, as she started to stumble.

"Shhh. It's okay Athena. Just calm down. We are doing this for you." The voice said soothingly.

For some reason, she trusted it.

She lost her balance completely, and she fell.

The arms caught her and gently lowered her to the ground.

Her eye lids became heavy and they started to close. She tried to fight it, but she was just so tired.

Her head fell back, but a hand caught it and held it gently.

As her eyes closed, she saw a face above hers.

A face that she had not seen in months.

A face that she had missed so much.

A face with emerald eyes that bore into hers.

The face that belonged to Loki. Her child's father.

Freya had died soon after she had found out about the baby.

Athena had walked into the room, where Freya stood staring at her sadly.

"What?" Athena asked.

"Oh darling. How will you raise the child?" She asked quietly.

Athena froze. "What child?"

"Oh Athena. Enough with the act. You think I haven't noticed?" Freya asked, offended.

Athena sighed and plopped down in a chair. "How long have you known?"

"Long enough." Freya replied. "Do I even need to ask who the father is?"

Athena glanced at her mentor and shook her head.

Freya sighed softly. "Alright. I will not speak of this. But you must figure out what you will do. Let me know when it is time. You don't have to do this alone." She finished with a smile.

Athena smiled. "Thank you Freya."

But yet, she did have to do it alone.

When she had awoken, she was in her room. Alone.

That's when the pain started.

She knew what was happening.

Over time, the contractions got stronger.

She had prepared a spell just for this.

She cast it quickly, making the room soundproof. No one else could hear her.

As she finished, she screamed loudly, the contractions coming closer together, signaling the birth was close.

Pretty soon, she started pushing and after a few minutes, the baby slipped out.

Athena gasped, but leaned forward and gently picked up the baby.

It started crying.

Athena smiled and looked at the miracle in her arms.

She knew at that moment that she would do anything for this child. For this boy.

A week later, she was still reeling over Freya's death. And Loki's involvement. How he had held her. He was a married man.

Not long after Odin forbade them from seeing each other, he announced his marriage to Sigyn.

Sigyn was a beautiful woman. She was kind and caring and everyone believed that she had changed Loki. Made him better.

He began seeing her and then they was married. Freya attended the wedding, letting Athena skip it.

After that, they announced that Sigyn was pregnant.

Athena left the room when either of their names were mentioned. She could not bear the pain it sent her. She tried so hard to push it away, but no matter what, it still sliced her heart open. Her heart was an open wound. And every time they were mentioned, salt was poured into the wound, making it so much worse.

She had hoped that Freya would deliver the child, but that would not be possible anymore.

As she was sitting there, the doors burst open and Loki and Sigyn burst in.

"The baby is coming!" Loki shouted.

Athena jumped up and helped Sigyn to a table.

Sigyn started screaming.

"Okay. Just push Sigyn. Take deep breaths. It will be over soon." She instructed.

She glanced over to see Loki clutching Sigyn's hand. She looked at his face, and it was contorted with worry.

He really did love her.

How stupid was she, that she had believed that he had really loved her?

Athena shook the thoughts away and concentrated on the task at hand.

A few minutes, the baby slipped out into her hands.

Athena held it in her arms and left the room to tend to the baby.

But something was wrong.

As she set it on the table, it didn't move. It didn't cry.

She opened its mouth and tried to suck out the goo that was in its throat.

It still didn't move.

She put her hand on its chest to feel for a heartbeat. There was none.

It was a stillborn.

Athena stepped back.

How would she tell them that their child was dead? They would blame her.

Then an idea hit her.

She wrapped the small body in a towel and left the room.

She headed to her own room.

She unlocked the door and went to the corner where a small crib sat.

Her eyes started to fill with tears.

She picked up her baby boy and held him in her arms.

He started crying quietly and Athena bent her head down and kissed his head.

He became silent.

Athena felt a tear slip down her cheek.

She knew what she had to do.

"I love you so much. I wish I could have been your mother. But you will always be my son. Even if I am not your mother." She whispered.

"You will be safe. You will have a family who loves you. You will not be looked at differently. You will be normal." She kissed his head again. "My son. You will have a wonderful life."

She carried him out of the room and into the delivery room.

Sigyn and Loki were waiting anxiously.

She put a smile on her face as she walked to them.

She placed him in Sigyn's arms and Loki leaned over to look at him.

"A boy. Congratulations."

Sigyn looked at Athena. "I thought it was going to be a girl."

The stillborn was a girl.

"It is not always correct. Not one hundred percent." She said, hoping they would believe her.

Sigyn nodded and looked down at the baby with a smile.

She looked at Loki and he leaned over and gave her a kiss.

His eyes gleamed with love.

Athena tried so hard not to break, but it was hard. She looked away.

"What will you name him?" Athena asked Sigyn.

Sigyn glanced at Loki before looking at her. "Nari. His name will be Nari."

Athena smiled and nodded. "I will inform Odin. He is a grandfather." She glanced at Loki and their eyes met.

His bore straight into hers as if he was trying to tell her something.

She stared back expressionless, and turned away. She would not be tricked again.

As she was leaving the room, she stopped and looked back at them.

"Take care of him please." She whispered softly.

She loved Loki and hated him at the same time. It pained her that she had to leave her son with him, while she could not be involved. She just had to trust him. Something she had told herself she would never do again. She watched them for a moment before leaving the room, and her son, behind.

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**And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed! Reviews are appreciated!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Loki's POV in this chapter! Enjoy!**

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Athena walked/limped through the palace.

She held her head high as she passed guards and many people of Asgard. She would not show her pain.

As she was limping along, a small child ran in front of her, and she almost tripped when she skidded to a halt to keep from running the child over.

The child, a young girl, stopped when she saw Athena, and looked up at her curiously.

At that moment, a young woman raced forward and grabbed the girl's arm.

"Cora! Do you even know who that is?" she hissed quietly at the girl.

Athena smiled at the woman. "No, it's quite alright! She didn't do anything wrong." She defended the child.

The mother looked at her, and gave her a small smile, afraid to contradict her.

The woman bowed respectfully and the girl looked confused, before the mother whispered. "She is the Healer. She is respected by everyone on Asgard."

The girl's eyes widened and she looked up at her. "I want to be a Healer when I grow up!" She jumped up and down excitedly.

The mother glared at her, and the girl gave a small bow.

Athena returned it with a small nod and a smile. "Maybe one day you will be. You'd be a great Healer. Probably better than me," she said with a small laugh, meaning every word she said.

Any other Healer would be better than she was.

The girl smiled up at her, before the mother grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

Athena watched them, with a small smile, the mother gently scolding the girl.

She would give anything for that to be her and Nari. She wanted to be a mother to him.

She scolded herself. She could never be a mother. Not in the way she wanted.

Athena continued limping towards the Throne Room, when a certain figure caught her attention.

She glanced over towards her left and saw a familiar figure standing amongst the crowd of people.

Loki

He seemed to feel her eyes on him, because at that moment, his emerald eyes turned and met hers.

She quickly looked away and continued into the Throne Room without looking his way again.

**Loki's POV**

He felt a pair of eyes on him.

He turned his head, and his eyes met with a pair of blue ones. Eyes he would know anywhere.

Athena

She quickly looked away and hurried off, without glancing his way again.

He wanted her to look at him again.

He mentally hit himself.

She didn't love him.

Odin said so.

**Flashback**

Loki lay in his bed, waiting for Athena to come back. He was counting the minutes to when she would return.

The doors opened and he sat up, expecting Athena to walk through the door.

"Ninety-eight minutes later…..."he said, before breaking off when Odin walked into the cell.

"Were you expecting someone?" Odin asked.

"No… I was expecting no one." Loki said casually, denying everything.

"No one like, oh, I don't know, Athena perhaps?" Odin asked, watching his reactions.

He was unable to hide his surprise.

"Yes, I know how she spent the night with you. Do you believe me to be that foolish?" he asked, offended.

Loki said nothing.

"You can't love her Loki."

"But I do!" he burst out, suddenly angry that he thought he could tell him what to do.

"You can't."

"Who are you to tell me who I can love and who I can't!"

Odin sighed softly. "Of all the women on Asgard, it had to be her who you fell in love with."

"You make it sound like a bad thing."

"It is." Odin replied quickly. "She is Healer. You know the laws of Healers. Number One is that they put everyone before themselves. Number Two is that they cannot marry nor bear children. It prevents them from accomplishing Number One."

Loki whipped around, not being able to look at the man in front of him.

"She won't come back," Odin said.

That caught his attention.

He turned back around. "What do you mean she won't come back?" he asked quietly.

"She knows what she did was wrong. She is pushing you away to fulfil her duties. She knows you can never be together. It was an impulse that she acted off of last night. She was not herself. She is now," he said, staring him straight in the eyes.

Loki stared at him in shock, before backing away. "No, she wouldn't do that! She loves me…."

Odin just stared, before shrugging. "Wait for her to come back then. You will be waiting forever."

Loki felt his heart and lungs constricting in his chest, causing him to lose his breath. His newly loving heart, was slowly breaking.

Breaking back into what is had been. A cold mass of nothing that's only purpose was to keep him alive, and nothing more.

He sat back on the bed, the rage and anger and sadness flowing through his veins, spreading to every pain of his body.

"I'm sorry." Odin said softly, before the doors shut behind him.

**End of Flashback**

He shook these memories away, watching her walk out of sight.

He felt the rage again, but he only turned and walked away.

Loki walked back towards his living quarters, where Sigyn was tending to their son.

He watched Sigyn while she was busy, and he remembered how he met her.

He was still broken from Athena leaving him, that he pushed everyone away, even after he was out of prison.

He met Sigyn in the market place one evening. He bumped into her, and he growled out a soft apology.

She looked up at him, and smiled, before blushing and bowing. She knew who he was.

She was very pretty, with her long, flowing blond hair, but she was nowhere near as beautiful as Athena.

"I'm very sorry Sir," she said, looking at him like he was royalty.

He was usually not considered royalty after what he had done on Midgard.

He gave a small smile, before walking around her and leaving her behind.

A few days later, he bumped into her again.

"Oh! It seems fate is bringing us together again," she said happily.

He really doubted that. She was probably stalking him.

Yet, he saw the way she was looking at him. No one would every look at him like that again.

And then, a plan started to form in his mind. He knew how to make Athena pay for what she had done.

So he plastered a smile on his face and replied smoothly, "Yes, it seems so."

She smiled and blushed, as she looked at the ground, before looking back up at him.

He knew at that moment, that this plan would work.

Not long after they met, he asked her to marry him. Of course she said yes.

They had their wedding, and he looked out at the crowd, hoping to see Athena.

His eyes laid on Freya, but Athena was nowhere in sight.

He inwardly sighed.

After that, he pushed his plan further.

A month later, Sigyn told him she was pregnant.

He faked his happiness. It was really too simple to trick her.

He let his plan slip a bit when Freya died.

He was not going to interact with Athena at all.

But she just looked too helpless. She needed someone to stop her.

When the baby was coming, he carefully watched Athena the whole time. She kept glancing his way, and he tried very hard to make it look convincing that he was worried about Sigyn.

When the child was born, Athena took it out of the room.

Sigyn looked over at him and he leaned over and kissed her.

He had done that a lot over the past few months. But when Athena kissed him, it sent shivers down his spine. She was the only one who could do that.

A few minutes later, Athena walked back in with the child.

She gave the child to Sigyn, but she looked hesitant to let it go.

Suddenly, she glanced over at him and their eyes met.

He hoped she could read his eyes. They were saying, 'This is for what you did to me.' But she didn't seem to get it.

She turned and looked back at Sigyn and asked her what they would name it.

They had agreed this before the birth. If it was a boy, it was Nari, if it was a girl, Freya.

They thought it was a girl though.

Sigyn asked about this, and Athena brushed it off that they could be wrong. He didn't think it was that easy, though he let it go. For now.

He knew she was hiding something, but he didn't know what.

He was going to find it out though, if it was the last thing he did.

He wanted her to pay for all the pain that she had caused him.

**Athena's POV**

After her awkward eye meeting with Loki, she continued into the Throne Room.

Odin was sitting on the Throne, and he smiled as she walked in.

"I have news, about the birth of Sigyn's and Lo-" She swallowed. "About Sigyn's and Loki's child."

Odin sat up and nodded.

"The birth was successful, the child is healthy. The boy. Nari," she reported.

Odin smiled, "Thank you."

Athena nodded and bowed, before turning away.

"I am proud of you Athena. It must be hard to do this. Seeing him with a child. Freya would be proud of you for being so strong." Odin called out to her.

Athena froze and looked at him with a smile, before leaving quickly, before her eyes revealed everything.

If only he knew the truth…..

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**I hope you enjoyed! Almost 10 reviews! Thank you so much for reading. I would not be continuing this if it were not for you guys. For that, I thank you. :) I don't know when the next one will be because I have to do The Younger Sister this weekend, and then Finals are coming up in 2 weeks. :( Hopefully, I will put one up before that. During Finals though I might not be able to post one. I will do it the weekend after though. During Winter Break, I will probably update both stories twice a week, maybe more. Until then, have a lovely day/night! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry that it has been so long since I have updated! I am finally of Christmas Break and so I hope to update this story and The Younger Sister more frequently! There are finally some answers and long awaited confrontations in this chapter! Enjoy!**

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15 years later

Athena watched from her window as the soldiers were leaving for battle. She knew that Nari was there.

She was scared. As any mother would be when her son was going to war.

She prayed that Loki would not let him out of his sight.

Sigyn came into the room and stood next to Athena.

She had no hard feelings towards Sigyn, but she couldn't help but feel jealous that Loki had chosen Sigyn over her.

She glanced over at Sigyn. "Are you alright?" she asked softly.

Sigyn sighed and shook her head. "No. I fear for their lives. I just want them to come home safely."

Athena nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean."

Sigyn turned away. "I need something to take my mind off of this." She turned to Athena.

"Did you ever love anyone?" she asked.

Athena stared at her in shock. "What do you mean?"

Sigyn blushed, just now noticing what she had just asked.

"Well, I know that Healers cannot love anyone. But I was thinking that you could love someone, but if no one knew that you did, then it wouldn't matter," she looked at her. "So, have you ever loved anybody?"

Athena couldn't tell her that she did love someone. That would only make her upset.

"No. I never did." She finally responded.

"No one? Ever?!" Sigyn asked in a shocked voice. "Not even Loki?"

Athena whipped her head around to stare at Sigyn. "Why would you say that?"

Sigyn blushed again. "Well, I knew that you and him were very close before you had your accident." She looked away.

Athena sighed softly. "Yes, we were close. But we were only friends. That's all we ever were." She said, trying to convince herself more than Sigyn.

She thought she saw relief in Sigyn's eyes. "Oh."

Sigyn bowed respectfully, before leaving the room.

A few hours later, Athena was pacing the room. Why were they not back yet?

Suddenly the gates burst open and she watched the soldiers return to Asgard. She sighed in relief.

Thor was leading them and she saw a figure with a green cape at his side. Loki.

A large weight lifted off her chest at the sight that he was alright.

But where was Nari?

A few minutes later, the doors to the Healing Chambers burst open and Athena jumped.

Loki and Sigyn hobbled into the room, carrying a body between them.

Nari.

Athena gasped softly and rushed to his side as they placed him down on the table. He was unconscious.

She quickly checked his pulse. It was faint, but still strong.

She took a moment to check him over with her eyes, checking the extent of his injuries.

There were a lot of cuts and scratches, but the injury that caught her attention was the gash of his chest.

Blood was still seeping out of the wound.

Her fear and anger propelled her to whip around and glare at Loki. "How could you take your eyes off of him?!" She saw his surprise and then she realized her mistake. She showed too much outward emotion.

She turned back to Nari before Loki could say anything and she started to strip away his armor from his chest.

She limped to her supplies and grabbed cloth and a bowl of warm water, before returning to his side.

She dipped the cloth into the water and started to clean the blood away from his gash.

"Will he be alright?" Sigyn asked worriedly, crowding Athena.

Athena turned to look at her. "I don't know! Stop crowding me and give me a moment to clean him up!" she snapped before continuing her work.

When the gash was cleaned, she grabbed some cream and bandages from her supplies and gently rubbed it onto his chest, and placed a thick bandage on the wound.

Then, she turned her attention to the smaller cuts and cleaned those up as well and rubbed some cream onto those as well, before turning to the worried parents.

Loki was hugging Sigyn, who had her head buried into his chest.

"There are good news and bad news." They both looked up anxiously at her. "The good news is that he is going to be fine." Their faces relaxed. "The bad news is that he is going to have to stay here in the Healing Cambers for a few days until the wound has healed. I will have to change the bandage frequently to keep the wound clean."

Nari shifted a little and Athena went to his side as he opened his eyes slightly. She never realized that they were the same shade as hers. His were a soft blue, while Loki's were green and Sigyn's were brown. She hoped they never noticed that they looked like hers.

"It's alright Nari. You're fine." She said soothingly.

"Mother?" he asked softly.

Athena froze for a moment. Her heart burst with happiness. He called her mom. It was by accident and she knew that, but it still made her happy.

Loki and Sigyn tensed behind her.

"No dear. I'm not your mother." She cooed softly. It pained her deeply to have to say this but there was nothing else to say.

"But your parents are both here." She glanced up at Loki and Sigyn, before backing away from him and allowed them to go to their son.

Loki glanced up at her, before going to Nari's side.

She watched them for a moment, before turning away and hobbling to the other patients that now littered the ward.

A few hours later, she was cleaning up a body that she failed to save. It was her job to clean the body up for the funeral.

It was a man who appeared to be in his early thirties, who got a deep gash on his chest. It was so deep that Athena could not stop the bleeding in time, and he had died.

She sighed softly as she stared at the man's pale face.

This could have easily been Nari.

Her thoughts cut off when the doors opened and Loki walked in.

She didn't need to turn her head to know it was him. She always knew when he was near.

"Athena."

It still sent shivers up her spine when he said her name.

"We need to talk."

Athena sighed and turned to face him. "What is there to talk about Loki? Nari is fine, he will only have a scar. He will be able to leave in a few days." She said before turning back to the body.

"I'm not here to talk about Nari." He said.

Athena let out an exasperated sigh. "Then why are you here Loki?" She asked.

"I'm here to talk about you."

She turned to look at him in shock, before replying hastily, "There is nothing to talk about."

"Oh yes there is." He took a few steps towards her. "Like when you shouted at me today when Nari got hurt."

Athena knew she shouldn't have done that.

"Why would you care?" He asked her.

"Because he is your son." Athena answered simply before turning away. "Now do we really need to do this now? Can't you see I have to prepare this body for a funeral?"

"Yes. We have to do this now." Loki replied without hesitation.

Athena sighed again before turning back to him.

"Give me ten minutes. That's all I need." He told her.

Athena closed her eyes, wondering if she could play this game for ten more minutes. "Fine. But make it quick."

Loki nodded. "There is something up with you Athena. You have been acting strange."

_Maybe it's because you left me_, _and chose someone else who was more beautiful_. She thought in her head.

"When Nari was born," Athena froze. "you looked hesitant to give him to Sigyn. There was some emotion on your face that I couldn't tell."

Loki watched her, as if looking for a reaction.

When she showed none, he went on. "Freya told us it was supposed to be a girl. Freya was rarely ever wrong."

Athena closed her eyes and turned away.

He noticed this and pushed on. "But when Sigyn asked you about it, you said that it could have been wrong."

Athena placed her hands on the table and leaned against it, her back towards him as he went on.

"When Nari was younger, you always seemed to care more about him than any other children. As a matter of fact, whenever you saw a child, you wanted it longingly."

Athena closed her eyes tighter. She could not do this for much longer.

"I know that something is up Athena. I knew it from the moment that Nari was born. Tell me what is up Athena!"

"I don't have to tell you anything!" She cried.

"Yes you do! I want to know why you care so much!" He shouted.

She closed her eyes. She knew he would not leave her alone.

She opened her eyes and turned around to look him in the eye.

"Sigyn is not Nari's mother. I am his mother. We are his parents."

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**TA-DA! CLIFFHANGER! Don't worry, I accidently started the next chapter cause I added stuff then took it out, thinking 'no this will be better in the next chapter' , so that one will probably be up in a few days at the most. I still have to write the next chapter in my other story so yea... Anyway, MERRY CHRISTMAS!**


	7. Chapter 7

**We get more answers in this chapter! The truth will finally be revealed... ENJOY!**

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Loki just stared at her in shock. For once in his life, he had no words.

"Nari is… our child?" He said, staring at her.

Athena sighed and covered his face with her hands. "Yes. Nari is our son."

"How?" Loki sputtered.

"Sigyn was pregnant with a child, but not with Nari. It really was a girl."

She glanced up at him, and saw his surprise.

"It was a stillborn though. There was nothing I could do. This was a week or so after I gave birth, so I gave you Nari. I knew that I couldn't raise him correctly, and people would always look at him differently and call him a mistake. He was not a mistake. He was a miracle. Even if you disagree." She said softly.

He stared at her, before glancing down. "I knew that something was up since you had left me."

This caused Athena's head to whip up and stare at him, her eyes blazing.

"When _I_ left _you_? What are you talking about Loki? We both know that you left me. You didn't want me anymore. You only wanted to take advantage of me because we had been close since we were children. So don't you dare tell me that I left you, because we both know that is not what happened!"

Loki stared at her in shock, before his own green eyes started to blaze. "You think I left you? I loved you! Then Odin comes and tells me that you weren't yourself and that you realized that we could never be together."

Athena cut him off. "What?! I loved you more than I ever loved anyone! You think I was strong enough to let you go? I wasn't! I was selfish! I wanted to be able to love someone like I loved you. I was selfish. I wasn't thinking of anyone but myself."

She turned away, the tears forming in her eyes.

"So you didn't leave me?" He said in a soft voice, his own anger forgotten.

Athena let out a soft laugh, before turning to look at him, her eyes sad.

"How could I leave you? I loved you more than anything." Her eyes looked confused. "Why would you ask that?"

Loki's eyes flashed with anger. "Odin came and told me that you realized that you couldn't love me."

"What? I never said that! Odin told me that you never loved me." Athena said.

"I always loved you." He said.

Athena's heart warmed at his words. She knew that what they were saying here was wrong, but she didn't care.

Loki's eyes flashed. "Odin lied to us. He told us the opposite of what we really meant, to keep us apart." His eyes met hers.

"He didn't want us to be together, so he took the matters into his own hands to fix it…" Athena realized.

"He does not have the right to decide if we belong together or not." Loki said, his eyes gleaming, before he took a step towards Athena. "We get to decide that. And right now, I'm deciding that I love you."

Athena gave a small smile, but she turned away. "We can't do this Loki."

"Why not?" he asked, the hurt clearly showing.

Athena turned to look at his sad, yet beautiful face. "You have Sigyn."

"I never loved her!" he said quickly. "I wanted to make you jealous. I wanted to cause you pain because I thought that you had left me." He lowered his gaze. Athena knew he was ashamed of doing this.

"You really don't love her?" Athena asked, failing to keep the hope out of her voice, hoping that he didn't hear it.

Loki smiled and walked towards her until he was standing right in front of her. Athena held her breath, realizing just how close they were.

His hand came out to brush away a stray strand from her face, before resting it on her cheek. "I love you, Athena."

She seemed to melt under his touch, and a shiver went down her spine. He seemed to know what he could do to her and he smirked in that arrogant way of his.

Athena let out the breath that she was holding and smiled. It didn't occur to her that they shouldn't be doing this. She didn't care at all. She had missed his touch. She had missed his company.

His other hand came up to her face as well so that he was cupping her face gingerly.

She stared up into his brilliant green eyes, before glancing down at his lips that were slowly coming closer to hers.

Her eyes drifted shut, as she waited for his lips to touch hers.

Suddenly, the doors burst open and they both jumped apart.

A young woman ran towards them, gasping for breath. "I am so sorry, Athena, for bothering you but my daughter is missing!"

Athena limped towards the woman and rested her hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. Why come to me?"

The woman caught her breath, before speaking again. "My little girl! She wants to be a healer, so I thought that maybe she came here!"

Athena shook her head. "No, she's not here."

The woman let out a sob.

"But, I promise to help you look." Athena soothed softly.

The woman looked up at her hopefully. "You will? Oh thank you Athena!"

Loki stepped forward and spoke. "I will help as well."

The woman looked at Loki. "Oh thank you, Prince Loki!"

Loki looked a bit shocked to hear this, but he only nodded curtly in response.

"She was saying that she was bored in the house and that she wanted to explore. I just hope that she didn't go out of the city." The woman fretted.

Athena nodded slowly. "I will go check outside the walls. Just in case she wandered out there."

Loki nodded. "I will go with you."

Just then, Sigyn walked into the room. "Loki," she said sweetly. "want to come see Nari with me? After that, maybe we could…. Ummmm….." she broke off when she saw the woman and Athena standing there.

Loki opened his mouth to respond, but Athena cut him off. "I'll be fine on my own. I'll look for her by myself."

Loki shook his head. "No, I want to help."

"Then go look with Sigyn. You two can look around in the city for her."

Athena gently pushed the woman towards a chair to sit on. "Don't worry. We will find her. Have you spoken with Odin to send out a search party?"

The woman shook her head.

"Then go with Loki and Sigyn and alert Odin. He will send a search party, which both of you can join." She finished, glancing at Sigyn and Loki.

Athena grabbed some bandages and stuffed them in her cloak, before turning towards the others.

"You all can go and find Odin and tell him about this. I will head out and try to find her." She said, before starting to walk past them.

A hand grabbed her arm just above her elbow and stopped her.

"You can't go alone." Loki said.

Athena sighed softly, before looking into his worried eyes. "Yes I can. I'll be fine."

His eyes looked at her, as if pleading her. He seemed to know that not letting him join her was more than she was letting on. She was pushing him away. His eyes were saying, '_Please don't do this! Please don't push me away_.'

Athena felt her heart shattering all over again, as she whispered, "It is better this way."

She pulled her arm out of his hand and walked out of the door, not looking back, trying to force the tears out of her eyes.

She had to do this….. She didn't have a choice. No one could find out about this.

She was doing this for him. He would never be accepted again if they knew that he loved her.

He couldn't leave Sigyn and Nari for her.

She couldn't let that happen.

She knew that he most likely hated her now, but it was worth it. They could never be together, and the moment she realized that, the better it would be.

As she walked farther and farther away from that room, it felt as if her heart was shattering over and over again.

But she pushed away the pain and kept walking.

Because she had to.

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**I'm so sorry that I'm leaving it here, but don't worry! I promise that there is more to come! I will try to upload this before I start school again. And it is getting better. :) I hope you all have a Happy New Year! May it be a better year for everyone. Reviews are appreciated.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Loki's POV**

He watched Athena walk away from him. As she pushed him away.

He replayed the last few minutes in his mind. She hadn't left him. She never had. She believed that he left her.

And when they found out that neither of those things happened, she looked so willing to kiss him.

It pained him so much to not be able too.

He smirked a bit as he remembered how she had shivered under his touch.

He knew that she still had feelings for him, just as he did for her. The willingness to kiss him proved that.

He was only doing what she thought was necessary. When this was all over, he would tell her that there was no need to push him away.

A hand on his arm brought his thoughts back to the situation at hand.

He glanced over to see Sigyn staring at him, her hand on his forearm.

"Loki?" Her gaze followed his, to the doors in which Athena had left. "Are you alright?"

He had never loved this woman, he only pretended that he had. He only wanted to hurt Athena, because he believed that she had left him. He had caused her pain for something she didn't even do.

He didn't know how he was going to get Athena back when he was married to Sigyn, but he knew that he would, however he needed too.

He shook her hand off his. "Yes, I'm fine."

He turned to the woman. "Let's go alert Odin."

He and Sigyn led the way to the Throne Room, where Odin was sitting on his throne.

As they walked in, he looked up. "How may I help you?" he asked glancing at the woman, who was clinging to Sigyn.

Loki looked up at Odin and began to speak. "Her child has wandered off and she has searched everywhere for her. The child mentioned wanting to become a Healer, so she checked with Athena but the child had not come. We believe that she has wandered out past the city, and we would like to gather a small group of warriors to go and search for her."

Odin glanced at Sigyn and then at the woman, before asking. "Where is Athena?"

"She went out by herself to search for the child. She said she was going out past the city to begin the search." Sigyn reported.

Odin's eyes flashed. "We will send eight groups of five men out past the city to look, and three here in the city. You must find them both as soon as possible."

The woman bowed in her thanks, before Sigyn started to lead her away. Loki glanced at them before calling out, "I will be with you in a moment."

They nodded and left the room.

Loki's head whipped towards Odin's.

"How could you like to us all those years ago?! Why did you want to keep us apart? You had no right to take that into your own hands!" Loki shouted angrily, his green eyes blazing.

Odin stared at him in surprise before sighing. "We do not have time for this Loki!"

"Yes we do! Tell me!" Loki shouted again.

"We _must_ find them! We need to find them quickly, before something happens to them." Odin said, his eyes desperate.

That was when Loki realized that something was very wrong. "What's wrong? Why would anything happen to them?" Fear began cut its way through his skin and snake its way down to his heart.

"There have been reports of Asgardian rouges outside the city. People who have been forced out of the city. They have their own little clan is you will. But lately, they have been attacking anyone that they find alone." Odin reported solemnly. "They were the ones who injured Athena, giving her the permanent limp."

Loki stared in shock. "Why had no one found them yet?"

"Because they are ruthless. They have been raised just as any warrior of Asgard. They have no mercy. We did not want to try to find them, just protect the city from them." Odin said quietly, his eyes cast downwards.

"And now they are in danger!" Loki exclaimed.

Odin nodded before looking him straight in the eyes. "You must find her Loki. You must find her before they do."

Loki turned and raced away, heading straight to the stables to grab his horse.

A group of four other men joined him and he led the way out of the stables.

He needed to find her! He had just gotten her back. He would not lose her again.

**Athena's POV**

She stumbled around outside the city, trying to find any traces of the young girl.

Loki's face kept popping back in her mind, but she forced it away, focusing on the task at hand.

She walked through the grass, picking up her dress to keep from stepping on it. She really wished she had changed into something else.

She glanced around, looking for the child.

The wind blew her hair into her face, and she kept pushing it away.

She only hoped she was going the right way.

Suddenly, she heard a scream.

Her head jerked up, and she ignored her hair, and raced in that direction.

She splashed through a small creek, the water making the bottom of her dress wet.

When she reached the other side, she saw figures standing in the distance.

She raced across the large field of grass that separated her from the figures, before realizing that this was where she was injured all those years ago.

As she got closer, she saw the people look up and spot her. She heard a few shouts and then weapons were drawn out of their cloaks and raised at her.

By now she was probably fifteen feet away from them.

"Halt! Or we shoot!" one of the men shouted at her. He held a small weapon in his hands.

Athena stopped and held her hands up in the air, to show that she was not armed.

She scanned the group of people and saw a young child with them and sighed softly with relief.

There were six men total. Three were standing by the child, and she noticed that one had his arm on hers, and he roughly pushed her behind them. Two were standing by one man in the center, as if guarding him. This was probably their leader.

As her hands were raised, she spoke softly. "I'm going to cause you no harm. I'm just here for the child."

The leader stepped forward, before he smiled and looked at his men. "Do you know who this is? This is Athena, Asgard's Healer." He finished with a smirk towards her.

A thought crossed her mind. She remembered hearing that the rouges were acting up outside the city. She remembered hearing about the deaths that these people had caused, but they were too fast that no one could find them, or track them. She realized that these were the rouges.

It also occurred to her that she was in a lot of trouble.

She looked at the men, who smirked along with their leader.

"You know how she is crippled. A group of our own people did that to her." The leader said.

Athena gasped.

One of the other men spoke up. "One of the princes was with her. Loki I think it was. He helped her. He seemed to have some feelings for her."

Athena glanced at him, the truth chilling her down to the bone. These people were the reason that she couldn't become a warrior.

The leader nodded as if remembering. "Yes, I remember. He was the one who killed my father that day."

He glared at Athena, as if it was somehow her fault.

An idea crossed her mind. It was very stupid and dangerous, but it was her only option.

"You can take me, if you let the child go." She spoke calmly. "I will let you take me, just please don't harm this child. She is innocent."

The leader looked at her, then back at the child.

One of the other men spoke up. "If the prince has feelings for her, then maybe we can use her to our advantage. We can hold her for ransom, and ask for anything we want. They will comply because she is also the only Healer."

The leader nodded. "Ah yes, that's right. We killed the other one."

Athena gasped. "You killed Freya?"

The leader smiled at her. "Yes we did. She was old. It was an easy kill."

Athena's eyes blurred with tears of fury. She lunged forward, but she had fifteen feet of distance between them to cover.

The two men beside the leader jumped forward and grabbed her and dragged her backwards, away from him.

"You killed her! You monster!" She screamed at him, while he just watched her with a smile.

The men held her down, while the leader stepped forward and bent down in front of her.

"We will accept your offer." He said and glanced at the man who was holding the child. "Let her go. She is useless to us now that we have her." He said, smiling at Athena.

The men shoved her down to the ground and stepped away from her, but were still near enough to grab her if she did anything.

The man let the child go, and the child ran to Athena and jumped into her arms.

Athena gasped and grasped the child tight as the men took a step forward.

"Wait! She's scared. Just let me calm her down." She pleaded the leader.

He gave her a sharp nod, and Athena looked at the child. Her eyes were wild as they stared at Athena.

"It's okay child. You're going to be fine. There are people looking for you. You are safe now." She soothed quietly.

"But what about you?" The girl asked in a small voice.

"I'll be fine." She replied with a reassuring smile, but deep down, she wasn't sure if she really was going to be alright.

She turned the child towards the direction in which she came from. "Just go past that creek and ran straight. You're bound to run into someone there." She gave her a gentle push. "Go on. Find your family."

The girl wrapped her small arms around her neck in a final hug, before she raced off.

Athena stood up and glared at the leader. "I gave you my word that I will go with you. Now you have to give me your word that you will not harm her."

The leader stared at her with amusement before replying. "You have my word."

He nodded at the men behind her and they grabbed her arms again. She struggled against them, but their grip was strong.

The leader walked forward, a smug look of his face, before he pulled out a sharp knife and held it to her throat. "Stop moving, or I will make you."

Athena felt the cold metal against her throat, but she wouldn't stop struggling.

Then, he pressed the knife closer to her throat, and she felt it pierce through skin.

She cried out as she felt a thin trail of blood seep down her throat.

She stopped struggling.

"Good girl." The leader cooed softly. The knife stopped pressing so hard to her throat, but it slid its way down her throat and neck softly, but hard enough so she could feel it there. He chuckled.

The two men holding her, shoved her to the ground where they held her there.

The leader crouched down beside her and put the knife on her bad leg.

"Since I got to miss your pain that day, how about we reenact it?" And with that, he drove the point of the knife through her skin.

Athena let out a soft scream.

The men around her chuckled at her pain. She writhed in the grass, but the men held her firmly to the ground.

He pulled out the knife and brought it up to her face for her in inspect it.

It was covered in her own blood.

Her right hand shot up desperately, to get ahold of anything that she could use, but the man grabbed her wrist and brought his knife swiftly across her palm, causing a steady stream of blood to follow.

She gasped and let out a whimper.

"It pleases me to see you like this. And now your prince is nowhere to be seen to save you this time."

He moved the knife up to her right shoulder and pushed the point into her skin.

Then, he slowly pushed it down the inside of her forearm, splitting the skin open, and allowing a river of dark red blood to come out.

He moved the knife so slowly, that she wished he would just finish it quick.

But no. This man knew how to cause pain.

When the knife got to her elbow, she started screaming.

She heard him laugh, before putting more pressure on the knife, and making the journey to her wrist slower.

She screamed her lungs out in the time it took to get down to her wrist.

Her eyes burned with tears of pain.

Finally he pulled away and stood up to address his men. "We take her back to the cave and prepare a message to the city. If they do not do exactly what we want, she dies."

Athena felt as if her whole body was on fire. It hurt so much.

She opened her eyes to look at her arm, and she saw the skin split open, with blood running out onto the grass.

The blood covered her arm completely and she saw black in the edge of her vision.

Her head rolled back and she saw all the men laugh.

She stared at the sky as an image of Loki passed through her mind.

Maybe it was better this way.

But yet, some part of her mind was telling her that he would do anything to get her back, including whatever these people wanted.

She didn't want them to use her against him, but there was nothing she could do about it.

She felt arms pick her up, but she didn't care.

She was staring at the sky as she blacked out, the pain finally fading away.

**Loki's POV**

He was galloping out past the city, his eye scanning the area frantically for any signs of Athena.

Then a movement caught his eyes.

He saw a little girl running towards them.

He pulled his horse up beside her. "Where is Athena?" He demanded.

The girl stared at him, before she started talking quickly.

"These men grabbed me and then a woman came and told them that they could take her if they let me go. They seemed pleased seeing her and then they let me go. The woman told me to come this way. So I ran." The girl said, in a small and scared voice.

He knew exactly who the woman was. Athena.

Of course she would offer up her life for the child's. That was who she was.

Then, an ear piercing scream made everyone stop.

Loki knew who it was as soon as it started. Athena.

They had found her, and they were hurting her.

By the time he urged his horse into a gallop, the screaming had stopped.

His horse passed over a small creek, and he urged the horse faster across a large field of grass.

When he reached the other side, he pulled his horse over when he saw the dark mass of red covering the grass.

Blood.

He hopped of his horse and ran to the blood.

By now, the others came to join him. They saw what he did.

There was so much blood.

He kneeled down by the blood, praying that it was not Athena's. Yet, the truth was obvious.

The scream belonged to Athena. This was her blood. They had hurt her.

His eyes glanced around, searching for any other clues to where they had gone but there was none.

They had left, and taken Athena with them.

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**TA-DA! I'm so sorry that this is a cliffhanger, but I needed to make the story more interesting. Sorry it's not that great. I guess I'm not that into it today. We might have Monday(and possibly Tuesday) off from school. If so, then I will probably do another then. Anyway, Thank you so much for reading. Reviews are appreciated! **


	9. Chapter 9

**I had another day off of school, so I wrote more! Hope you enjoy!**

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**Athena's POV**

Athena woke when she realized that she was moving. That and the extreme pain in her arm.

She opened her eyes slowly, to discover that the men were taking her somewhere.

One of the men had her draped over his shoulder like a rag.

Her arms were dangling, and her right arm, which was now painted a deep shade of red, was dripping blood behind them.

It was almost like a trail. She wondered if someone could find her because of the trail of blood. She hoped so.

She glanced down at her arm and examined the long slit down her arm. It was deep and it hurt a lot. She could not see her arm beneath all of the blood.

She shifted slightly, not meaning too and the man carrying her tightened his grip.

"She's awake."

"Don't let go of her. Not that she would be able to go anywhere." Athena could hear the smile in his voice. "We are almost there anyway."

She wondered where it was they were going. She couldn't see in front of them, only behind them.

They walked on a bit farther, before they were suddenly enveloped in darkness.

She lifted her head slightly to see an opening that they had entered. It was covered with tendrils that hid the entrance.

It was a cave.

She stared at the light from the opening that was starting to fade away, until it disappeared from her sight.

The men walked through the small tunnel that then opened into a larger room, where about twenty other men were sitting.

They all looked up at their arrival, and saw what they were carrying.

Athena heard shouts of approval as they entered the room.

The leader waved his hands to quiet down the shouts of the men.

"Put her over there and bind her up. Prepare for the message." Cheers followed the announcement.

The man carried Athena to one end of the cave and then threw her against the wall like she weighed nothing.

Her head hit the wall painfully, causing stars to erupt in her vision, and she fell to the cold cave floor in a heap.

She felt blood drip down her face and her head began to throb.

A different man came and hauled her up and pushed her against the wall.

She had enough time to notice that there were chains on the wall. Chains for a prisoner.

He grabbed her wrist and snapped the shackle around her wrist.

Then he grabbed her injured arm and twisted it painfully enough so that she cried out, and shackled it as well.

Then he let her go and backed away from her.

Her arms dangled down by her face, for she was too weak to hold them up. Her head fell downwards as well.

"Are we ready to send the message?" The leader shouted out.

"Yes, sir."

"Then let's begin."

**Loki's POV**

"We have to go after her!" Loki shouted at the men, as he was standing by the pool of Athena's blood.

"Yes, but we can't go after them with only five men!" one of the warriors argued.

"But they are hurting her! They could be killing her, and we can't go after them?!" he shouted, tears of anger and fright blinding his vision.

"We need to get more men. Then we will go after them."

Loki huffed, not liking leaving her behind, but he knew that they were right.

He climbed back on his horse and galloped away from the red blood.

When he made it back to the palace, he and the four other men stormed into the Throne Room, where Odin and the other groups of men stood.

The child ran over to her mother and the mother wrapped her arms around her and they both started crying. He looked away.

Sigyn stepped forward. "I'm glad you found her."

Loki pushed past her, ignoring her words.

He stalked right up to her father and stared at him.

He glanced around. "Where is Athena?"

"They took her." He responded. "I heard her scream, but by the time I got there, she was gone."

Sigyn gasped.

"We have to go after her, Odin. We must!" Loki insisted.

Odin nodded slowly.

Then, a beeping noise sounded in the room.

One of the men spoke up. "We are getting a message from an unknown caller."

"Put it through." Odin commanded quickly.

Suddenly, a 3D screen appeared before them, and on the screen stood a man.

"Hello Allfather! Glad to finally speak with you! I've heard many things about you." The man smirked.

"What do you want?" Odin said, his patience wearing thin.

"Oh, well I just wanted to let you know that we have something of yours." The image turned from him, to a corner of the room, where a figure lay hunched up and chained to the wall.

Loki knew who it was immediately. "Athena!" He shouted and raced forward, but a few of the men held him back.

His eyes glued to the small figure that was chained to the wall.

Athena was crouched by the wall, her hands chained, leaving her arms dangling by her head. One of her arms was covered in blood, and he knew that it was her own blood. Her head was hanging down, her hair covering her face. He also saw that there was a spot of blood on her leg, but he couldn't keep his eyes off her right arm. That was probably where all the blood had come from.

Then, a man walked towards her and grabbed her hair and pulled her head upwards, making her face the camera.

Loki gasped softly. She had a gash on the left of her forehead that was dripping blood down across her left cheek, and the hair around it had gone from golden blonde, to dark red. Her eyes were vacant and her face was pale. She even had a cut across her neck, trailing a thin line of blood down her neck.

"Want to say anything to them dear?" The man asked Athena.

She twisted her head out of his grasp and this angered the man.

He pulled back his arm and punched her across her left cheek, forcing her head towards the right. "Don't try to fight me!" the man cried in anger.

She let out a cry, and then her head dangled forward again. Loki heard her let out a soft whimper.

Loki struggled harder against the men. "Don't hurt her!" He cried to anger and desperation. "Please don't hurt her!"

Athena's head lifted slowly when he said this.

She looked up into the camera and Loki felt her eyes bore into his. He noticed a brand new cut of her cheek from when the man punched her.

She stared into the camera for a moment before speaking in a whisper. "Loki?" She asked hesitantly.

He pushed the men away and barged forward. "Yes Athena. It's me. Can you hear me?"

Her eyes visibly brightened at his voice.

"I'm coming for you, Athena. I promise. I'll get you out of there." He promised watching her beautiful face that was covered in her own blood.

Her eyes turned scared then. "No! Don't come for me Loki! Please don't come…."

She broke off when her head was jerked back when the man pulled her hair. "Enough talking."

The image turned back to the other man, presumably the leader, and he stood with a smile on his face.

"I presume that you will do anything to get her back, is that right?" he asked with a smirk.

"Anything!" Loki cried.

"Loki!" Odin shouted. "You do not speak for us all!"

Loki turned towards Odin, his eyes no longer angry, just desperate.

"Please! Please we have to go and get her! We can't just leave her there to die! She will die if we don't do something!" His voice started to crack. "Please father. I love her."

The people around her gasped, and Sigyn ran towards him. "What?"

He stared into the eyes of his wife. "I love Athena. I always have, and I always will." With that, he turned back to Odin.

Odin just stared at him, before nodding.

He turned back to the screen, where the man was still smiling, behind him, Athena was staring at the camera in shock. She had heard everything.

"What do you want in return for Athena?" Odin asked calmly, though Loki could see that he too was frightened.

"We want a passage off of Asgard. Someplace where we can all live in peace. And your promise to never come after us again. No matter what, you will leave us alone. We also want weapons. Lots of weapons. Some of your best. We will need to be able to defend ourselves if we go to another world." He finished with a smile.

Athena strained against her chains. "NO! Please! Don't do this! Don't let them off of Asgard! You will never catch them again!"

The leader walked up to her and slapped her again. "You do not have a say in this."

He grabbed her bad arm and twisted it, so that it faced the camera. "You see this?"

Loki gasped. It was a cut on the inside of her arm that went from her shoulder, down to her wrist. Now that he moved it, the blood started to flow freely out of the wound.

Athena cried out in pain.

"She will die if you don't get her help. If you refuse to help us, then we will kill her here for all of you to watch. If you agree, there is no guarantee that she will make it to our exchange."

He dropped her arm, and Athena's head flopped downwards again.

"So. What will it be?" He asked, still standing by Athena's side.

He pulled out a knife from his belt, and pulled Athena's head up and placed it across her throat.

"Decide quickly." He taunted.

Loki stared at Athena, whose eyes stared straight at him. Her lips moved slightly, like she was whispering something, and then he knew exactly what she had said. She mouthed 'I love you'.

He turned to Odin desperately. "Please Odin!" Tears started to flow down his cheeks.

Odin glanced down at him, and watched him for a moment, before he looked at the image again. "I accept your offer. You have my word that we will let you go. Now you must give us your word that you will not harm her anymore."

The man smiled, while Athena's face fell.

"No!" She cried, but the man tightened his grip on her and she fell silent.

"I am happy to do business with you, Odin. Meet us in the field where you found the blood tonight when the sun sets, and bring no army with you. Bring us what you promised and then we will make the exchange." He smirked. "Oh, and do bring Prince Loki. Although I hope you know, that if any one of you tries anything funny, we will kill her." He added.

"We will meet you there." Odin concluded.

The man smiled and glanced down at Athena. "I hope you make it until then, love. I do want your prince to be there." Then he looked at them again. "See you all soon!"

The screen disappeared.

The room was silent.

Loki felt his own rage pulsing through his veins. He would kill that man. That man had hurt Athena. He would kill him slowly, giving him the same pain that Athena had bared. He knew she was strong, but how much more blood could she loose before she died?

He would not let her die. If she died, then he would never forgive himself. They would have to kill them both.

He was ready. Athena would make it, because he knew that she loved him, and she knew he loved her.

He vowed to himself that they would survive this.

They would make it out alive, because their love was just that strong.

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**I hope you enjoyed! I don't know when the next chapter will be up. Probably some time this weekend, hopefully. The next chapter will be the exchange. :) reviews are appreciated! We hit 20 reviews! Thank you all who have reviewed. I mean it! THANK YOU! I would not be writing this is it weren't for you, so thank you. Have a wonderful morning/evening/night!**


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